


The Archive

by Rens_Knight



Series: In the Burning of the Light [1]
Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Gen, Literature, Sci-Fi, fan fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-10-23 03:57:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10711707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rens_Knight/pseuds/Rens_Knight
Summary: A Sith holocron with an unusual signature in the Force opens to yield the secrets of a Sith Lord whose heresy was of the Light...





	The Archive

  
**"The Archive"**

******  
**

Suspended in the air by a blend of intention and Force, the pyramidal, fractal-gilded, almost crystalline structure pulses with a crimson glow that responds to the will pushing upon it.  Outwardly the Sith holocron looks like all its brethren, nothing to indicate why _this_ one, of all holocrons, should be so distinct.  But with the eyes of the Force, it becomes immediately obvious.  The device emanates power in the Sith way, it calls, it tempts, far from the sedentary field of presence that heralds a cubic Jedi holocron.  But there is something about the timbre of its call, something _different_ about the permutations of the Force it demands as its due before it yields its secrets...in this it is unique.

Finally, the pieces all fall together, and with this epiphany the holocron settles into a gentle spin, unfolding like the rare blossom of a desert flower, spilling forth light that seems to stretch almost like a Loth-cat waking from a long slumber as it coalesces into a human form lost more than centuries ago to the dusty realms of myth.

The image of a tall, pale-skinned, dark-haired man appears with gracefully elongated, tapering features and eyes the piercing clear blue of a tropical sea.  He wreaths himself in grey robes adorned with flashes of blue, red, and white--ornately constructed yet...lived-in somehow.  Comfortable.  Those cerulean eyes seem to search his watchers from the grave and for the first time in thousands of years, the image speaks in a crisp, resonant clip that in the present day would be recognized as a Coreworld accent.  One might mistake the tone at first for a deep, unflappable calm--but there's far too much shining forth from those eyes to label this man as _calm_.  No, those eyes are anything but.

" _To those who have puzzled out the way to access my words_ ," he says, " _I imagine you already know who I am, even if you only know me by one of my names.  Still, do permit me a proper introduction._

_"I am Tarssus Kallig, Lord of the Sith and heir of Aloysius Kallig and Tulak Hord.  I am Darth Imperius, Councillor of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge.  I am the Outlander._

_"Because you are here, I must trust that you are exactly the sort of unorthodox minds I have sought out.  I do not know what the future holds--no one, no matter how great his power, ought to delude himself into believing himself entitled to a long life, after all--but I remain steadfast in the assurance that as long as sentient life remains, there will still be those masterful enough of the Force that my words might serve._

_"In my day, the few companions who walk at my sides do so at the risk of being tried and executed by the rest of the Dark Council as heretics or traitors to the state...and quite likely sentenced to something far more prolonged and humiliating at the hands of the Jedi Order, who wash their hands of blood even when this means the withholding of mercy.  While it is my hope that eventually a new and revived order will bear witness to these words_ en masse _, I fear that those who walk this narrow way between apathy and gluttony may continue to find few allies._

_"My archive rests within this holocron to ensure the first to access its secrets understand at least a little of what makes it so critical that this message survive, as well as to prove this record's authenticity through the Force.  That said,_ _this message is not solely for you.  Nor is it solely for wielders of the Force.  If the situation has not changed since my day--or, as I fear, has worsened--your greatest protection is not in hoarding the archive to yourselves but in illuminating it so brightly that even a black hole could scarcely take it all in.  I nearly saw it all lost at the hands of the Eternal Empire, and I will not see it happen again._

_"The records of this holocron are not simply a historical chronicle; if all you seek is history, then some of these files will seem inconsequential.  Out of place.  This is not about cataloguing victories and losses, nor a record of the political intrigues of the Sith Empire, per se.  The logs, footage, and correspondence in the archive are an_ illustration _of sorts.  I only hope that I--and those with me--succeed in painting at least some of the picture._

_"Now...I bid you enter my archives."  
_  


**Author's Note:**

> Soundtrack: [Against Agitation--Origin / Against Agitation--Revelation](http://www.musiczeit.com/album.php?album=920&moonbooter+lunatic+voyage), by Moonbooter


End file.
